HUMAN RIGHTS & BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE NO. 133 DECEMBER 8, 2016

CLIENT-DRIVEN DEMAND FOR STANDARDS IN THE PRIVATE SECURITY SECTOR

Join us for our next Human Rights & Business Roundtable meeting which will take place on Thursday, December 8.

Commercial sites the world over rely on private security companies to protect their people, property, and production. However, when private security comes into contact with communities, there can be a real risk of tensions, conflict escalation, and at worse, human rights abuses. It is therefore imperative that clients ensure that their private security personnel are properly vetted, well-trained, supervised, and most importantly, operate to international standards.

The Voluntary Principles on Security & Human Rights made progress in setting forth requirements for oil, gas, and mining companies to ensure that their private security providers meet these standards. Building upon this, the International Code of Conduct embodies a widely accepted set of principles for responsible security provision which have been operationalized in national and international management system standards.

This Roundtable will consider how clients can exert leverage through requiring specific standards of their private security providers, and whether those providers can in turn benefit from standards implementation and certification as a qualifier and market differentiator. The Roundtable will bring together perspectives from both the client and provider on how, collectively, standards in the private security sector can be raised.

ISOA CORPORATE MEMBER IN THE SPOTLIGHT: PAE

SUPPORTING STABILITY OPERATIONS AND CONTINGENCY MISSIONS FOR OVER 60 YEARS

As a founding member of ISOA, PAE understands the critical role that private organizations play in global stability operations. We are proud to continue our support of ISOA through the appointment of Darryle Conway, PAE's Vice President of OCONUS Expeditionary Operations, to the ISOA Board of Directors.

RECOGNIZED LEADER IN STABILITY OPERATIONS MISSIONS

2015 PROGRAM OF THE YEAR, CEO OF THE YEAR: GovCon 2015 Awards

#1 SERVICES PROVIDER TO THE DoS: 2015 Govini Customer Scorecard

#1 PROVIDER OF SERVICES TO THE USG IN AFRICA: 2015FFDS Query

#3 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRM: 2015 Washington Technology Top 100

#10 PURE PLAY SERVICES PROVIDER: 2015 Bloomberg Report

60+ YEARS OF SUPPORTING THE MOST CRITICAL MISSIONS OF THE USG

INDUSTRY TRENDS AND EVENTS

U.S. WEAPONS EXPORTS END 2016 AT $33.6 BILLION

The US hit $33.6 billion for foreign weapon sales in fiscal year 2016, down $13 billion from the record-setting FY 2015 number. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced that it cleared $2.9 billion of Foreign Military Financing-funded cases; $5.0 billion in Building Partner Capacity-funded cases; and $25.7 billion funded by partner nations.

Among sales that were cleared in 2016 were $785 million from the UAE for munitions such as the GBU-10, announced in July; $1.2 billion from Australia for AIM-120D air-to-air missiles; and $1.15 billion from Saudi Arabia for M1A2S tanks and M88Al/A2 vehicles.

Crowell & Moring LLP is proud to announce that the Legal Aid Society has recognized the firm for its contributions to protecting the rights of low income workers. Each year, the Legal Aid Society recognizes the outstanding work of volunteer lawyers, law firms, corporations, and other professionals who support the Society and/or participate in its pro bono program by providing exceptional legal services to low-income New Yorkers.

Crowell & Moring's pro bono practice handles a broad range of matters, particularly children's rights/family law, immigration, and criminal justice. The firm also handles countless other types of pro bono matters referred by nonprofit organizations and, on occasion, its own lawyers. More than 20 years ago, Crowell & Moring was the first DC-based firm to elect a full-time public service partner and has twice been honored as Pro Bono Firm of the Year in Washington, D.C. Today, the firm's lawyers contribute more than 35,000 hours in pro bono legal services annually to the indigent and suffering in local communities and around the world.

Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that two lawyers, Evan D. Wolff and Robin Campbell, have been named to National Law Journal's 2016 Cybersecurity & Data Privacy Trailblazers. This list honors lawyers who have "helped make a difference in the fight against criminal cyber activity and toward adding much needed layers of data security in an increasingly digital world of commerce."

Crowell & Moring's Privacy & Cybersecurity Group guides clients through the myriad federal, state, and international laws governing the collection, use, transfer, and protection of data. We provide practical advice that helps our clients address privacy and cybersecurity issues in a manner appropriate to their business needs and to the risks that they face. The group's experience cuts across multiple industries and involves nearly every practice group in the firm, including intellectual property, corporate, insurance, white collar, trade secrets, health care, energy, transportation, and government contracts capabilities to address the privacy, cybersecurity, and other risks faced by clients.

Obiamaka P. Madubuko, a Litigation and Compliance shareholder in the New York office of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP is the recipient of the Nigerian Lawyers Association's (NLA) 2016 NLA Trailblazer Award. The annual NLA merit awards gala took place New York City, with keynote speaker Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.

According to the Nigerian Lawyers Association, "the Trailblazer Award recognizes distinguished individuals who have not only demonstrated success in their field, but have also demonstrated a strong commitment to community service." The NLA is the leading association for Nigerian legal professionals in the United States and its principal goal is to advance the professional needs of its growing members and to provide leadership and advocacy for the legal needs and interests of the Nigerian community in the United States and around the world. While most members are of Nigerian descent, Nigerian citizenship is not a requirement for membership.

CONTRACTING & PROCUREMENT

A REORG EVERY AGENCY SHOULD KNOW ABOUT

Agency reorganizations tend not to make a lot of news. They tend to impact only that agency or bureau or office, but rarely do the changes matter to a wide audience. But the General Services Administration's Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) turns both of these conventional thoughts on their head.

For one, every agency uses FAS to spend more than $35 billion through GSA's schedules, government wide acquisition contracts and assisted acquisition services programs. Second, FAS' shuffle is directly related to the Obama administration's category management initiative, which it's codifying in a new circular. Both of these reasons make it important for federal employees and contractors to take notice.

As a humanitarian non-governmental organisation (NGO), do you hire or are you considering hiring a private security company (PSC) to ensure the security of your operations? How do you select the adequate PSC? Do you implement guidelines for the hiring of private security services? Does the contract include respect for human rights? With the increased use of private contractors to protect personnel and property in complex environments, NGOs face challenges in ensuring the protection of human rights.

In order to help NGOs overcome these challenges, the 'Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces' (DCAF) is developing a Contract Guidance Tool, which will provide support to implement processes that integrate the protection of human rights when contracting private security services for their operations.

GEOPOLITICAL NEWS

IRAN ONCE AGAIN EXCEEDS A NUCLEAR DEAL LIMIT

Iran has exceeded a soft limit on sensitive material set under its nuclear deal with major powers hours after Donald Trump - who has strongly criticized the agreement - won the U.S. presidential election.

It is the second time Tehran has surpassed the 130 metric ton threshold for heavy water, a material used as a moderator in reactors like Iran's unfinished one at Arak, since the deal was put in place in January. It had 130.1 tons of the material.

The last time Iran overstepped that mark was brief, passing without major criticism from the other countries that signed the nuclear deal last year. But there are questions about whether the incoming Trump administration will react to such incidents the same way.

U.S. APACHE HELICOPTERS HAVING 'SIGNIFICANT EFFECT' IN MOSUL OFFENSIVE

U.S. Army Apache helicopters providing close air support to Iraqi forces are making a real impact in the Mosul offensive. Defense Department Press Secretary Peter Cook said the Apaches have targeted car bombs and other obstacles and impediments ISIS has tried to use against the advancing Iraqi forces.

He did not specify how close the helicopters are getting to the fighting in Mosul or whether the Apaches were flying over the city, where they could be at greater risk from forces on the ground, some equipped with shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. As far as U.S. ground forces who are embedded with Iraqi forces, Cook said there are no troops inside Mosul yet.

DOZENS OF DECAPITATED BODIES FOUND AT SCHOOL NEAR MOSUL

Iraqi military and police forces said that they have uncovered a mass grave near a small town south of the Islamic State-held city of Mosul. Initial reports say 100 bodies were found, with many of them being decapitated.

Col. Abdel Rahman Khazali, a spokesman for the Iraqi federal police, said the bodies were discovered at an agricultural college outside the town of Hamam al-Alil, which was recaptured by Iraqi forces over the past three days.

U.S.-BACKED MILITIA OPENS DRIVES ON ISIS CAPITAL IN SYRIA

A joint Kurdish-Arab militia has begun a new phase in the operation to dislodge the Islamic State from its stronghold in Raqqa, Syria, moving to encircle the city and largely cut off the resupply of arms, supplies and fighters.

American warplanes are flying bombing missions against the Islamic State's "leadership, command and control, and resources" in Raqqa and outside the city in support of the militia, the Syrian Democratic Forces.

CONTRACT AWARDS

GovCon Index-listed Vectrus (NYSE: VEC) said Tuesday the U.S. Army will seek revised proposals for a re-competed logistics contract the company originally was not selected for in late September as the program's current iteration represents the largest the contractor's portfolio.

Vectrus added it is also awaiting a Government Accountability Office decision on a separate re-competed Army logistics contract the company lost in early September as both programs represented close to half of the company's revenue over nine months this year.

DEFENSE & NATIONAL SECURITY

PENTAGON STILL DECIDING WHETHER AMERICAN TROOPS WILL ENTER MOSUL

The Pentagon will likely have to decide in the coming days whether American troops will enter Mosul, as Iraqi forces near the Islamic State-held city from the south and push into its eastern-most neighborhoods.

The vast majority of the nearly 5,000 American troops serving in Iraq remain on bases far from Mosul, where they are training Iraqi forces. But the United States has the authority to embed military troops into Iraqi and Peshmerga battalions and brigades.